Arrowheads

Technically "hunting", they just don't have a pulse. So, I found a fairly large area with lots of obviously worked flint and pink rocks, that I've been told were their fires for cooking sotol roots, but I don't know if that's accurate. My question is, would this be a good place to scratch around for some semi-recognizable points, or were all the finished product probably taken away and used?

Flat area right above what was probably then a flowing creek.

I'm anxious to find my first, solid point on this new place.

What I have been told is look on the South side of were the fires were. The wind is usually out of the South and it was not as smoky on that side.

Check the creek bed itself.

Use your imagination, and try to envision what the flow path would have been back then. Our best picking has been almost 200 yards from the present river bed, but is up on a raised bank where they would have camped.

Fair warning. After you find a nice one, your hooked, you will lose a crop looking for them. I have an old campsite on the place I just built a new home on and my wife and I spend lots of time in that area. Turns into hard work. Recently found an Obsidian drill and a 3inch long Obsidian point that are perfect.

I am not far from you as the crow flies. I have found several arrowheads on the north side of my Creek, 60-80 yards above the creek bed. Several rock types and designs were found in the general area. I found the most during the 2011 drought.
Lots of fossils as well.

Guys,

please document where you find things with GPS coordinates and a photo.

There is a huge amount of history of this State that is unknown and documenting finds like these can help fill in lots of unknown questions.

Thanks.

I don't think a lot of folks would want to give out that type of information. At least not me.

Sort of. I did archaeology for 25 years. Scavenging/collecting artifacts often destroys a lot of context, sometimes even those from erosional contexts. Except in the case of rare types, a geographic location doesn't really add much to what isn't already known (basic range distribution of point types). Even then, having the data doesn't do much if it doesn't end up in some sort of comprehensive database.

Creekrunner, you should be finding a lot of FCR (fire-cracked rock) if they are cooking sotol and lechuguilla. FCR actually has a distinctive look when you learn to recognize it.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk01U8Swvb0MpIs_uQyN-Ca_oVwrqag:1592518982162&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=fire+cracked+rock+ovens+sotol+texas&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg4-rBs4zqAhVSXKwKHbl-B1IQsAR6BAgIEAE&biw=1440&bih=739

Could be a midden.
https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/bowie/middenwhat.html
There is likely several artifacts to be found there. Most of the central Texas paid screen digs are at sites that include rock middens.

I found a huge one of those at the top of a very steep canyon, on a lease north of Sanderson. It was so big, I was scared to go back up and start digging around, but an absolutely gorgeous setting (for true west Texas). I am a true Christian believer, but I still don't want to piss any past inhabitants off. I told the LO, a true square-head transplanted from Mason. He didn't give a rat's arse.

Yeah I would vote no on that as well

I did not say share it publicly, just document it for future reference.

Or just take a shovel and tear it up if that makes you feel better.

That’s right. That is where I found my best Indian tools. I found a pestle, an enormous kitchen stone the size of a large dinner table with the mortar cut into it, a couple of excellent hide scrapers and plenty of tooled broken points. Just imagine an encampment with certain groups scattered about.

If not shared publicly, the the history you are talking about preserving is just as lost.

I found this at a site in the bend of a large drainage in West Texas. There was an island like large hump about 100 yards from bend of the drainage/channel and these were on top of it. Lot of chipped and worked flint with a few broken points but I could tell it had been picked over in the past. The only reason these were there is the boulder they were ground into was huge and could not be removed.There was an area across the drainage from this spot with worked flint also and a few broken points. IME where the drainage main channel is today is not where it was years ago. It is possible that the channel was on the other side of the the little island from where it was today on that location in West Texas...just years and years of flooding will have rerouted it the main channel.

I’d love to see pictures of that.

STX, what were the holes used for?

Grinding/mixing up grain and such...large mortar and pestle that were used for years and years. The pestles were removed by people in the past who looked for artifacts at that campsite. Those were in the huge boulder so they could not remove them.

I've seen those holes on a ranch south of Marathon, again, on a large boulder. After all that work, I bet it still tasted like . Tough, tough people.

That’s pretty much what I suspected. Thanks. That sort of history amazes me.

Thank y'all for the suggestions and help. I'll get to searching.

You are right. found this one my first time looking. I have been hooked ever since.

Here's a sample of some from along the Nueces in Uvalde. Predominantly lighter in color, depends if they were chert, flint, or obsidian. Looking for them right after a rain helps, while earth is still darker. Darker trade points from different areas show up in dry dirt and dust really well.

About a perfect arrowhead as a guy could hope to find.

My wifes family has a ranch downstream from Cotulla on the Nueces, we find lots of arrowheads there but at least a mile from the current river bed. I'm sure the river flowed close to that area at one time.

My granddad was the ranch foreman of the ranch across the river from Colorado Bend State Park and Gorman Falls for about 50 years. He and I would go to the river bottom after a good rain looking for arrowheads as the whole area was a huge indian camp. Found some really good arrowheads too. One of the neighboring ranchers was an amateur archaeologist and he and granddad would poke around from time to time. One of those times he dug up the ground in front of a cave and found an infant that had been buried. He got boogered about that and immediately re-covered the remains. When Buchanan was low several years ago, you could find all sorts of stuff from about Tow and up the Colorado river from there. One of my co-workers was checking around the lake bed and happened to look in a hollow tree stump. He found some skeletal remains at the bottom of the stump. They were sent off for testing and came back to a male and had been in the stump for a minimum of 150 years. If you look for artifacts on lake beds you have to be careful, if you get caught taking them out you can get popped with violating the Texas Antiquity Act, a very substantial fine.

Found this point the first time I actually ever went looking for one during spring Turkey season.

This is what I have found so far on my Houston County 34 acres I bought last year, all on one small hill but we had to dig up to 2.5 feet deep. Found Caddo pottery in the smaller creek and various burnt rock and bones on the hill also. Much of the stuff is preforms, broken or poorly made petrified wood points but there are a few good ones.

Awesome point!

The 2.5 feet helps. I spent a little time yesterday, and found a few of the obviously worked points that are similar to some of the rougher points in your picture, but got bummed in the heat and gave up. That, and the pigs grunting in the cedars, just out of range, really pissed me off. I don't know whether to carry the rifle, or the triangle hoe!

I think you're in the right area of your place to find some more whole ones. I don't think I've found the honey hole spot on my hill yet as it seems many of these were the throwaways. It just takes some searching. I have found numerous chips, shards and petrified wood pieces there. I think I'm in the midden which might or might not have the better points. Found some probable tools also, as well as one big flat piece of sandstone that is totally out of place on the hill and I suspect one of the arrowhead makers was using it to sit on. Just keep probing that area and maybe dig a few test holes about two feet or so deep and you might find more. Our clay pan is not that deep right there so we only dig about 2.5 to 3 feet deep at that spot. I've only hand dug so it's kind of hard work and then I screen all the dirt. I have found multiple points or parts of points after rains on some of our unscreened dirt from before I started screening everything.

Ive looked multiple times but have never found an arrowhead. Id really like to one day.

All of these dug in a single day. Austin, TX. early 1970's at the headwaters of Bull Creek on my Aunt's property.

Love that black one in the center!! I recently went on some payed screen digs in Bandera and Brazos county and found some there but nothing like finding them on your own land or lease!

Yes, the black one (Darl) is nice material, has a nice point and decent serrations, a good find for sure, but the Golondrina (upper left) is by far the oldest point in that group and a much more desirable point (for rarity). I found that one in a trash midden among a lot of burned rock (about 3' down). Unfortunately, I was removing rock in a hurry and hit the edge of the point with my hammer....knocking a small amount of patina off of it.

I don't know if you noticed it in my picture but that one broken base that is kind of mixed in on my picture looks like it totally doesn't fit with the rest of the crudely made eastern TX stuff. It has very fine chipping. Not sure if it could have been the base of something paleo but the craftmenship is much better on it. Too much missing to tell the story. I just found that piece a couple of weeks ago. Yeah that one in the upper right is an eye catcher for sure!

A few of my surface finds from South Texas

Beautiful pieces.

Found over last 4 yrs since we moved to ranch about quarter mile from house. The 2 obsidian in center were about 2 ft down,

correct, their camp was usually above any flood area

Very nice finds

For sure. Makes me melancholy thinking about my old Indian site on the Guadalupe. Friend of ours sold it to a developer and they scraped it and removed all the dirt to haul it away and dump it. A travesty. Now there are million dollar homes sitting on top of the native campsite. This is near Gruene.

Very Cool!

nice

Here are a few of mine I have taken pics of. All of mine are all surface finds in La Salle and Kendall Counties mainly. The only time I dug was in a camp spot by a spring on the old Sisterdale/Lindendale stagecoach route...someone had taken backhoe and opened up that mound. The plat to that ranch had a marked Indian Camp on the ledge above that spring and the spot I dug at. Never found any points in that dig though just those 3 pieces of china (in the pic)down about 12" from the surface. Found a lot points and broken points around that site though. I also found an 1870's rimfire shell casing about 100 yards south of this site also. It had been fired twice from the crimp marks.

Awesome points.

Cool. I have a few in an old cigar box. Need to get them out and display them.

We used to find alot here on our lease, but really no perfect ones, must've been a school place for making them

Nice Montell in that upper group. Wish the tip had been on that Pedernales in the lower group. Nice points.

Growing up I was blessed to spend hours searching and finding those stone points in the hill country.
It fascinated me to think I was the first person to touch those points since they were dropped there so long ago.
Where I found the most points I remember all the chips of rocks in several areas where the points were being made, and old burned stones where camp fires once burned.

I luv looking for them